Minimally invasive combined surgical procedures of digestive, gynecological, and urological disorders: Five-year experience from a developing country

Context: With advancements in the field of minimally invasive surgery, a variety of general surgical, gynecological, and urological diseases are amenable to treatment by this approach. Combined procedures can be performed for treating coexisting abdominal pathologies. Aims: The study aimed to evaluate our experience of combining multiple minimally invasive procedures in terms of its safety and efficacy. Settings and Design: An observational study was conducted at three hospitals in Kashmir. Materials and Methods: A total of 149 patients underwent combined laparoscopic or combined laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures for the treatment of coexisting abdominal diseases. The outcome was analyzed in terms of mean operative time, postoperative visual analog scale score (0–10), requirement of additional postoperative analgesics, complications, hospital stay, and patient satisfaction. Statistical Analysis: Prospective sample survey analyzing the percentage and mean values. Results: Of 149 patients, 48 (32.2%) were male and 101 (67.7%) were female. Age ranged between 18-58 years in females and 24–70 years in males. The mean operative time ranged between 27 and 115 min. It was the longest in patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) with laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy. The most common organ-specific procedures performed were LC, appendectomy, and ovarian cystectomy in 120, 34, and 15 patients, respectively. Urological procedures were done in 36 patients undergoing either LC or appendectomy. Additional parenteral postoperative analgesics were required in 128 (85.9%) patients. A total of five major and 32 minor complications were noted in 22 (14.7%) patients. Three (2.01%) patients required conversion to open surgery. Orals were started on the 1st postoperative day in the majority of the patients. The mean hospital stay was 2.4 days (range 1–6 days). Overall, 93.9% of the patients expressed satisfaction to the combined procedure. Conclusions: Simultaneous minimally invasive procedures are feasible for coexisting abdominal pathologies in selected patients with the advantages of single anesthesia and hospital admission, low morbidity, and excellent patient satisfaction.